Moving to SF area. Which place is better to rent an apartment; Daly City, Pacifica or Richmond? (San Francisco: coop, buy)

[g.o.venus]

Originally Posted by zitsky

Pacifica is nice. You'll be close to the ocean, but it's a pretty small town with nothing to do. Daly City isn't much better, but at least you'd be close to Bart and Caltrain for getting around. Both places are in the fog belt but you are more likely to have fog on the coast.

I spoke with a couple leasing offices in both Daly City and Pacifica. They said its foggy only a few months a year, is that true?

and, is Pacifica too far from the attractions like coffee shops, stores? As far as I know it is about 15 mins from downtown SF, so I am trying to figure out how long i am gonna walk or drive to get some groceries?

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by g.o.venus

I spoke with a couple leasing offices in both Daly City and Pacifica. They said its foggy only a few months a year, is that true?

and, is Pacifica too far from the attractions like coffee shops, stores? As far as I know it is about 15 mins from downtown SF, so I am trying to figure out how long i am gonna walk or drive to get some groceries?

Pacifica has local coffee shops and grocery stores. You don't have to go to SF for everything.

The fog is pretty much year round. If you look at real estate listings, you'll see that some of them say, "in the sunny part of Pacifica". Notice the addresses on those listings, and try to figure out what part of town that is (I think it's the southern part, but I'm not 100% sure), if the leasing agents arent' being straight with you.

[thecooler]

Pacifica and Daly City both have a number of major grocery stores, coffee shops, restaurants etc. Depending on where you lived in either city, you may be in a walkable area or not given the hills, but nowhere in either city will be more then 5-10 minutes from most stores you would need. I would google map some addresses you're considering and look at street views to get an idea of the hills.

I moved to Pacifica in Feb. and I think we've had maybe 5 foggy days. The primary fog is in the summer, when most of rest of the bay area is sunny and warm. Its actually the inland warmth that brings the fog in. even when its foggy, if you want to see the sun you dont have to go more then 5-10 miles to get to it. I hear the southern neighborhoods in Pacifica (Linda Mar and Vallemar) are actually not that foggy, but i haven't seen it for myself yet, since i just moved there. A few years ago i lived in Daly City and other then a few days a year when the fog was ground level, the fog didnt' really bother me, but some people really can't handle it.

As far as neighborhoods for both towns, the only area i would recommend avoiding would be around mission blvd in DC, that area is not great, except for until you get to roughly to the Colma bart station.

[HockeyMac18]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

The fog is pretty much year round.

This isn't true as the conditions that create the fog (especially the really intense summer fog) only exist for part of the year (mainly late May/Early June to Late August/Early Sept). You can definitely get fog any time of the year, but it's quite rare in the middle of winter (when it can go weeks without clouds or "fog"), and only increases in probability as you get closer to the summer months. Obviously, it varies by year, but summer is when you can count on the fog being regular.

Originally Posted by thecooler

I moved to Pacifica in Feb. and I think we've had maybe 5 foggy days. The primary fog is in the summer, when most of rest of the bay area is sunny and warm. Its actually the inland warmth that brings the fog in. even when its foggy, if you want to see the sun you dont have to go more then 5-10 miles to get to it. I hear the southern neighborhoods in Pacifica (Linda Mar and Vallemar) are actually not that foggy, but i haven't seen it for myself yet, since i just moved there. A few years ago i lived in Daly City and other then a few days a year when the fog was ground level, the fog didnt' really bother me, but some people really can't handle it.

This is true, the mechanism of the fog is due to the intense temperature gradients between the inland warmth and the cool and moist ocean air (wind and fog along the coast are the result).

Also, in many ways, Daly City has worse fog because most of the city is up off the coast. The summer fog often comes in a bit high (this "fog" often looks more like low clouds than what most people think of when they hear "fog") and this causes it to be at ground level in places like the Sunset district in SF or in Daly City.

Linda Mar is sunnier, but that's really only true in the valley part away from the coast. I've been there when it was cloudy/foggy at beach and sunny/quite warm in the valley area of Linda Mar (around San Pedro Valley Park). This isn't true every day there is fog, but it's definitely the sunniest part of Pacifica because the valley gives it some protection from the wind/incoming fog.

[bmw335xi]

Originally Posted by g.o.venus

thank you for the quick answer, wow, i am surprised, i didn't think Richmond would be a bad area because I kind of liked the idea of being very close to a marina but thats ok lol. I will look from Dali City then. Well I am trying not to exceed $1600 for the monthly rent, electric and water bills.

You're welcome!

You can check out the crime statistics on City-Data, they are pretty shocking lol.

$1,600 is doable, I would suggest parts of Daly City such as Westlake and anywhere around SFSU. You could find a studio around $1,600 at Lakewood Apartments. I have a friend that lives there, they are basic apartments, but the location is fantastic. You are surrounded by woods and in front of you is Lake Merced, which has a nice jogging path. You are also a short walk to Fort Funston, which is a great area with beach access. I take my dog there at least once a week.

http://www.lakewoodatlakemerced.com/...ame=floorplans

[Fata Morgana]

Originally Posted by g.o.venus

thank you for the quick answer, wow, i am surprised, i didn't think Richmond would be a bad area because I kind of liked the idea of being very close to a marina but thats ok lol. I will look from Dali City then. Well I am trying not to exceed $1600 for the monthly rent, electric and water bills.

You must mean the Richmond district of SF (and not the Richmond of the East Bay). We live here and it is quite safe.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by Fata Morgana

You must mean the Richmond district of SF (and not the Richmond of the East Bay). We live here and it is quite safe.

There's no marina in the Richmond district. It's Richmond (East Bay) that has one.
Richmond Marina - San Francisco Bay - Marina Bay Yacht Harbor

[bmw335xi]

Originally Posted by g.o.venus

I spoke with a couple leasing offices in both Daly City and Pacifica. They said its foggy only a few months a year, is that true?

and, is Pacifica too far from the attractions like coffee shops, stores? As far as I know it is about 15 mins from downtown SF, so I am trying to figure out how long i am gonna walk or drive to get some groceries?

Pacifica is more foggy than Daly City. However, it is not year round. It's maybe 25% of the year at least during the day. When it comes to night, it would be fair to say it's foggy more than half of the year, but it doesn't really matter too much at night. All of San Francisco will be cold on those nights.

[MisfitBanana]

Richland is the only place I've regularly seen guys pull up their shirts to show the gun tucked in their waistband. Not a safe area at all. (For the record, I'm female, and I was minding my own business, but whatever dude with a gun it was that day would get pissed if he thought any of the guys I was with were looking at him - even if they weren't.)

A friend of mine was shot in the head in a nearby city for standing next to someone with the wrong color shirt on. I would steer clear of the Richmond area.

Pacific seems like your best option. Additionally, check out if there's a BART station within an easy walking distance of your work. If so, then check out cities with BART stations. Walnut Creek sounds like it's far away, but by BART it's probably only about 30 minutes, and WC is a really safe area (plus, the downtown area is walkable and has lots of great stores). You might also check out different areas in Oakland for the same reason (the Rockridge area has gotten a lot nicer over the last 10-15 years).

[Ruth4Truth]

Well, anyone living in the Richmond area would live in Point Richmond, which is different from Richmond, in a good way. But that's way too far from SF, if that's where the OP is going to work.